No words required.
Quiet and deeply felt read.
Japan in my heart.

With no desire to trivialize this wondeful book and even less authority to speak on the wonder of Japan, I thought a haiku might be the best way to say how much I loved this.
If you want peace in your heart and some restoration of the wisdom and beauty in ancient things, Kuni is for you.

A beautiful book about the importance of community when tackling the regeneration of rural areas. It explores the importance of revitalising rural areas of land in order to be sustainable and to move away from tourism as the main fiscal source for these communities.

The book is a refreshing read depicting the authors' own experiences and may be useful for many existing rural communities who are looking for new ways to grow and develop. It may also be incredibly useful for new sustainable communities which are developing in some countries at present.

An interesting look at a new-old way of relating to each other outside of traditional systems. A call for community, one which is small, connected and deeply ingrained with the surrounding natural world. An antidote to division

"Kuni" consists of a series of essays from both America and Japan exploring how rural communities can harness the power of their locality to become a thriving "kuni".

This mostly self-sufficient way of life brings people from cities into the rural areas of the country through a close relationship based outside of tourism while handing power back to locals to create a sustainable and meaningful way of life for residents.

The outlook of the authors is very refreshing. Instead of engaging in a struggle between town life and country life there is an argument that both have their own merits and those immersed in the city would love to support the more rural parts of their country, their soul may even demand it.

Rather than an instructional approach, both authors share their experiences and thoughts around topics such as the perfect community size and marketing strategies. If you are part of a rural area looking to draw people in to ensure the longevity of the area this book will show you a way apart from straightforward tourism.

I'm not sure how useful or interesting it would be to those outside of that community and at times I found the lack of direct instruction difficult to follow. But if this is your "niche" you will find a lot of food for thought in these pages.

One key feature of developed countries is the degree of urbanisation that has occurred. This has the consequence that cities feel developed but the countryside feels left behind and increasingly depopulated as the cities lure greater numbers to them, particularly capital cities. Tokyo, for instance, has c. 30% of Japan’s population. But how to reverse this trend? What if bigger isn’t always better?

Tsuyoshi Sekihara has spent the last 20 years attempting to revitalise a village called Nakanomata and another nearby 24 settlements on the northern coast of Japan on the Sea of Japan. It’s a 4h30 drive north west from Tokyo or a 2h high speed Shinkansen from Tokyo to the nearby city of Joestu followed by a 30 minute drive. It’s his experiences of this revitalisation that drive his concept and theorisation of Kuni.

Kuni originally meant the Japanese nation but Sekihara has adopted it to mean a small community of somewhere between 500-2,000 people who live and work together, each bringing their skills and resources for the benefit of others, and who govern themselves including providing local social services. The aim of such a Kuni is twofold: the first is to revitalise the village away from petty-frogging bureaucrats creating a deep sense of community who care for the land and each other; the second is to create a community that city folk frequently revisit as an antidote to the city and even provide volunteer labour, e.g. the rice harvest, such that they become investors in the place too.

In Nakanomata and the surrounding villages, Sekihara has seen much success. Replicating that success across Japan and other countries requires similarly charismatic leaders grasping the vision and committing for the long haul to a specific place to see it revitalised, constantly asking “how could this be improved?” so that they don’t stagnate. After all, who wouldn’t like to live in a place with active work, interdependence between residents, friends to problem solve with, young people and children to spend time with, good water to drink, fresh produce with no contaminants to eat, seasonal events, lots of laughter and regular opportunities to speak with newcomers and be curious? But such a life requires collective effort over years and the question remains – are we willing?

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.